Dutch court decides not to prosecute Srebrenica commander News
Dutch court decides not to prosecute Srebrenica commander

[JURIST] A Dutch appellate court ruled Wednesday that Gen. Thom Karremans, who ordered Bosnian Muslims away from a UN peacekeeping compound during the 1995 Srebrenica massacre [BBC backgrounder; JURIST news archive], will not be prosecuted. Karremans, along with two other soldiers, faced charges for forcing three Bosnian Muslim men to leave the UN compound during the massacre, which ultimately led to their death. At this time, Bosnian Serb forces had overtaken the town and were busy leading approximately 8,000 Muslim men and boys to remote sites for execution and mass burial. Family members of the victims argued that their Muslim relatives should have been offered protection. However, the court found that Karremans could not be held criminally liable, as he was not obligated to realize the Bosnian Muslims had a chance of execution if turned away from the UN peacekeeper compound.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] and the Balkan States continue to prosecute those accused of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the Balkan conflict of the 1990s that left more than 100,000 people dead and millions displaced. Investigations of war crimes relating to the Bosnian-Serbian conflict are ongoing, and suspects are still being arrested and prosecuted. Earlier this month the ICTY upheld the majority of convictions [JURIST report] for Bosnian Serb army General Zdravko Tolimir for his involvement in the massacre. At the end of January the ICTY upheld genocide convictions [JURIST report] for Vujadin Popovic and Ljubisa Beara for crimes perpetrated by Bosnian Serb forces during the 1995 massacre. Also in January the war crimes division of the Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina [official website] confirmed the indictment [JURIST report] of Dragomir Vasic on charges of genocide. In October the Netherlands Ministry of Defense [official website] announced plans [JURIST report] to appeal a ruling finding Netherlands liable for the deaths of 300 of the men and boys killed in the Srebrenica massacre.

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